I think quite a case could be made that some of the wisest people on this earth are ones who are aware of other cultures, languages and peoples and can relate to them well and learn from them. Perhaps for some it goes without saying and for others they’d push back to say that one doesn’t need to travel any further than google to do this!
And some of the wise people of this earth would be quick to point out how hilarious the Christmas story is, with wise men supposedly travelling a long way from the east to find Jesus, guided by a star! A nice myth to rest a festival on?
Well partly. Myth-busting will mean we note a few things from our historical texts:
- We don’t know how many wise men there were (probably more than three)
- It probably didn’t happen at Christmas time/December (so much for Zeitgeist similarities)
- They definitely didn’t turn up to a stable. In fact, whether Jesus was ever at a stable is another dubious question.
And the star?
Well there’s been a few reasonable attempts at an answer, summed up here and in more detail reviewing the latest attempt here.
But regardless of what you think of that, early in Jesus’ story there’s wise people travelling across cultures to find deep answers to life. And they weren’t the first.
I like it.
Find a historically verifiable part of this photo and I’ll give you a prize (probably not as good as some of the wise men brought).
al-jabr 